Comcast seeking new technology to throttle FCC head
I hate to break this to you and risk damaging the relationship of trust and faith that you have with your cable company, but according to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, Comcast has not been totally forthright in describing its handling of bandwidth-sucking BitTorrent transfers of large media files. Ever since it was caught using surreptitious, hacker-like techniques to interrupt such activity (see “Sorry, upload of the video ‘How to Choose a New ISP’ cannot be completed at this time“), the cable giant has claimed that it was simply exercising sound network management practices to ensure decent service for all, and that the throttling was applied only in times of high network congestion. Today, Martin told a Senate committee that his agency’s ongoing investigation indicated otherwise. “It does not appear that this technique was used only to occasionally delay traffic at particular nodes suffering from network congestion at that time,” Martin told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. “Based on testimony we’ve received thus far, this equipment was typically deployed over a wider geographic area or system, and is not even capable of knowing when an individual … segment of the network is congested.” He also expressed some misgivings over Comcast’s pledge to move to a traffic management system that doesn’t single out particular protocols for hobbling (see “Comcast to give BitTorrent a hand, instead of just the one finger“). “They claim that they will deploy this solution by the end of the year, but it is unclear whether they will be finished deploying their solution or just starting that migration,” Martin said. “Indeed the question is not when they will begin using a new approach, but if and when they are committing to stop using the old one.” Still, Martin continued to resist calls for net neutrality legislation, saying the agency is able to deal with throttling complaints on a case-by-case basis (a claim of authority that Comcast or one of its peers may yet challenge in court). For its part, Comcast indignantly insisted it was innocent of intrigue and guided only by the best of intentions, saying the company “does not, has not, and will not block any websites or online applications, including peer-to-peer services. We have acknowledged that we manage peer-to-peer traffic in a limited manner to minimize network congestion.”
This would be funny if it wasn’t pathetic.
I’m in Sweden now. Here 8Mbit/sec is typical service and 24Mbit/sec available to the home. I called the local supplier, Bredbandbolaget (a subsidiary of Norwegian telco Telenor), about volume pricing and the representative laughed. “Use what you like, as much as you like, whenever you like! It’s all for the same amount.” About $40/month.
Comcast, which I have at home in Tucson, has maybe 2Mbit/sec service realistically, and you can pop for the high-end 8Mbit/sec service.
If the cable companies weren’t such poor stewards of their medium, all this talk of constriction would be moot. We’re becoming a nation of limitations, not freedoms. Not least through this variety of corporate incompetence.
Kevin Martin is the Harriet Miers of the FCC. His “investigation” has consisted of two kangaroo court proceedings which were more circus than reasoned hearing. His statement to Congress means nothing.
Comcast’s claim that it does not block any “online applications” is hollow. I cannot use Gmail’s or .Mac’s outgoing SMTP servers because Comcast blocks TCP ports 25 and 587. Comcast subscribers are forced to use Comcast’s mailing program exclusively.
Not true, C. I use IMAP and secure SMTP on a remote server from my Comcast account with no problem at all.
Unless you want to send passwords in plain text, this is the way to go.
Comcast is pathetic, we need to get rid of cable monopolies or this crap will continue ad nauseum!
Comcast is bad for business and consumers. They provide adequete service for a premuim, and tout their service as fast when it’s comparable to DSL. On top of that, they trick you with low startup fees then charge you double after 2 months. I will be glad when my contract (I HATE CONTRACTS) is over
Comcast doesnt have contracts.